Weasel Understands Loving What is Plentiful

“This could be our revolution,” writes Alice Walker, “to love what is plentiful as much as what is scarce.”

Walker’s poem We Alone could be useful in light of the fact that due to vacillating temperatures and other factors three successions of head lettuce plantings have matured at the same time! We’ve been grating and chopping the copious other veggies and making some big batches of vinaigrette and have been showing our love for the plentiful lettuce at farmer lunch. If you’ve been flirting with the idea of using more head lettuce, this would be a good time to go for it!

All the color and beauty of the gardens and produce is overwhelming and fun to be around. This vibrancy peaked Saturday at the Pick Your Own Picnic.

Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

But memories of Sunday morning are almost in black and white as the early call came in from Penelope on chores, reporting 15 dead chickens, some headless. Known for such mayhem, weasels often kill many birds in an incident, drinking the blood of some of the victims. Was it the bloodless chickens that took the color from the memory? Or the early morning light? Or just the trauma?

Ordinarily this fierce little animal is beneficial to farmers as it destroys great numbers of mice, chipmunks, etc. And we’ve seen tracks in winter and never had to intervene. But the last few nights 4 newly made traps (thanks Johnny O!) have been set, baited with chicken liver, as we want us all to be able to love plentiful chicken throughout the year!